Widow forgives Aceh death, at army's request

The injured wife of a German tourist shot dead by Indonesian soldiers in war-racked Aceh province on Wednesday night wrote a letter the next day forgiving the military for the "misunderstanding".

With a gunshot to her knee, Elisabeth Engel wrote the letter at the request of the military, although the operational commander in Aceh, General Bambang Darmono, insisted she was not pressured to write it.

Although she did not speak English when The Age interviewed her in Aceh on May 18, Ms Engel, 49, wrote in English admitting, "I should not be there" (sic).

She and her husband, Lothar Heinrich Albert, 54, had been on a world cycling trip since 2001. They arrived in Aceh before Indonesia began its major military offensive on May 19 and continued to the west coast village of Lhok Gayo on Wednesday where they camped by the beach at dusk.

"I know it was very dangerest area and it was not good, to do this at this situation . . . and about the haeppen, my husband is death and I know, this was only a misunderstanding from military. I will except my husbands deaths, (sic)" her letter says.");document.write("

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The Indonesian army would not confirm yesterday that the tourists were inside their tent, with their bicycles outside, when soldiers shot at the tent after calling out and firing warning shots.

A spokesman for the Indonesian army in Aceh, Lieutenant-Colonel Firdaus, said the army wanted the letter because "We just want to make sure that what we did was in accordance with normal procedure."

He said he did not know who asked Ms Engel to write the letter or if anyone helped her to write it. Although he would not confirm they were in their tent, Colonel Firdaus said there was "something like a mosquito net" where they were shot.

According to Kompas newspaper, General Bambang said Ms Engel told him she wanted to write in her book by torchlight before she went to sleep. She then heard one burst of gunfire but was not sure how close it was.

"I thought the first shots were in the air and the second shots followed soon after and after that there was no time to say anything," she told General Bambang.

Her husband was reportedly shot in the chest and head.

Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defence Minister Martori Abdul Djalil flew to Aceh yesterday to discuss how to ensure the safety of foreigners as the military operation continued.

The German military attache to Indonesia, Colonel Bruno Hasenpusch, said he wanted to know whether anyone had warned the tourists against travelling in the province.